End of the Lewis – Sebastian Bromance?
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With fights and sour relationships marring the sport over the last few years – barring the camaraderie shared by McLaren’s Fernando Alonso and former teammate Jenson Button, F1 needed a new bromance.
The relationship between childhood friends Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton also thawed significantly after the 2016 season – but 2017 saw a new one emerge – between the two biggest rivals on the circuit today, Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari.
The two have spoken several times this year on how much they respect the other, their driving, and despite the fact that the Briton is chasing Vettel in the championship standings, the pair appeared to have a healthy respect – and a fun friendship with each other, even laughing together on the podium on multiple occasions.
But this weekend looks like it has changed all that and in speedy fashion, no pun intended. The race saw three restarts, and it was following the first one that the pair clashed on the track. Vettel accused Hamilton of a brake test or a brake check, which is when a driver deliberately slows down to impede the race of the driver behind him. As a result, Vettel hit the back of Hamilton’s Mercedes.
Immediately after this, the German pulled up next to his Mercedes rival and gesticulated in anger, with his car going wide and sideswiping Hamilton’s.
Vettel was given three penalty points in addition to a 10 second stop-and-go penalty at the race for what marshals described as ‘dangerous driving’, but perhaps the harshest criticism came from Hamilton himself. The Briton called his now likely former friend a “disgrace, disgraceful driving.” He also called the German out on “unsportsmanlike conduct,” with Vettel choosing to avoid addressing the issue directly, but not particularly denying the news.
Even if you are a fan of Vettel and Ferrari, you would notice that the German did in fact appear to turn his wheel sideways to touch the car of his rival, but all the 29-year-old said after his penalty was “where did I do dangerous driving?”
Funnily enough, it was team Principal Maurizio Arrivabene who told him to “keep your head down, we (will) talk about this later.”
"I wasn't happy with the brake-testing. I drove alongside him and raised my hand to say that is not the way to do it and we had a little contact,” he said.
The two had some extremely terse looks exchanged after, and we think this has ended a hope for a great F1 friendship there.
With a championship fight in the balance, maybe this one was some time coming.
